There has been a shocking new twist in the case of a devastated Queensland family after their elderly father won almost $1 million in the lottery.
William Bampton, 92, won $986,212.30 in the Tattslotto Golden Casket in March 2018 and shared it with his son, but excluded his daughter from the winnings.
The Sunshine Coast man later gave his daughter Suzanne Elaine Vourlides $300,000, but then took her to court demanding it back and she had to prove she didn’t intimidate him into giving it to her.
Bampton is now appealing the court’s decision, but in a ruling published on Thursday, Mrs Vourlides asked the court to order her father to pay $50,000 in security costs for his appeal.
This money would ensure Bampton could pay his Gold Coast-based daughter’s legal costs at the end of the appeal, if she wins, the mail reported.
William Bampton, 92, won $986,212.30 in the Tattslotto Golden Casket in March 2018 and shared it with his son, but excluded his daughter from the winnings. Mr. Bampton appears in the center with his son Larry on the right.
When he initially won the prize, Bampton made a $50,000 deposit on a new home for his son, Larry, 66, less than two weeks later.
The following week, he paid the remaining $505,000 on the four-bedroom house in Mountain Creek, Sunshine Coast, to co-own the house with his son.
But Larry Bampton said his father no longer talks to him.
In the previous case, the Queensland District Court heard Bampton refused to share his winnings with Mrs Vourlides, 69, because he did not want her husband, Jim, to get anything.
Even in his will, Mr Bampton refused to allow her access to any of his cash while her husband was still alive.
But after an angry confrontation, he later relented and in August 2018 gave his daughter a check for $300,000.
However, three years later, Bampton claimed that he had given him the money under duress and demanded the money back.
The case was dismissed last December after Judge Suzanne Sheridan said Bampton, described as “tenacious” in court, was incapable of being intimidated by his daughter.
In his 39-page findings, Sheridan dismissed any allegation of Mr. Bampton’s insanity and any allegation that Ms. Vourlides used undue influence on her father.
“It is difficult to imagine that anyone could tell Mr. Bampton what to do, or that someone would so dominate his mind that he would be prevented from exercising his free will,” he said.
The new documents, released March 28, claim that Bampton challenged the judge’s decision to dismiss her lawsuit, alleging, in part, that she did not approach the situation from Bampton’s perspective as someone “harmfully” affected by it.
Mr. Bampton also undertook not to diminish or dispose of his assets.
William Bampton won $986,212.30 at the Tattslotto Golden Casket in March 2018 and made a $50,000 deposit on a new home for his son, Larry, less than two weeks later. Lottery options shown
Bampton paid the remaining $505,000 for a four-bedroom house in Mountain Creek on the Sunshine Coast (pictured) to co-own it with his son.
The fight is said to have torn the family apart.
“No one wins from this, it just destroys every member of the family,” Larry Bampton said at the time of the original case.
“The worst thing that ever happened to me is that he won the million dollars. I think it’s one of those tragic lottery stories.
Ms Vourlides added: “At the end of the day I’m over it, frankly it’s destroyed people’s lives.” This is all terrible.’